ECE Timeline

  • Period: 1500 to

    Social Reform

    The bettering of early childhood education lead to the strengthening of society. Education reforms, research into teaching tactics, theories on how to better teach children, innovators creating new systems to support children, and so much more are all a part of building education up and up.
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    Johann Amos Comenius

    Wrote the first picture book, "Orbis Pictus," in 1658.
    Thought that education should go along with the "natural order of things," and that it should match a child's developmental clock.
    Stressed learning by doing.
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    John Locke

    Conceptualized the idea that children are born neutral.
    Furthered the idea that children are individuals.
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    Jean-Jacques Rousseau

    Argued that children were inherently good, and that their instruction should accommodate their natural whims.
    Wrote the 1761 hypothetical, "Emile."
    "Let us lay it down as an incontrovertible rule that the first impulses of nature are always right [...] the only natural passion is self-love or selfishness taken in a wider sense."
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    Johann Henrich Pestalozzi

    Stressed integrated curriculum, or the idea that education should be "the hand, the head, and the heart of the child."
    Wrote, "How Gertrude Teaches Her Children," published 1801, which details the teaching methods for mothers to use at home.
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    Robert Owen

    Fought against child labour. He had children ages three through ten attend his infant/ nursery school for guided lessons. He had the older children working less hours so they could go to school as well.
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    Friedrich Wilhelm Froebel

    "Father of the Kindergarten."
    Believed that educators should be positive figures in a child's life.
    Believed that education at this level should be filled with play and children should use toys to explore the world.
  • Kindergarten

    First started (and term coined) by Froebel in Germany.
    Moved to the US, quickly spreading across the country as a part of social reform.
    Later on, there was conflict between conservative Froebelian, teacher-led kindergartens and the progressive, child-centered curriculum proposed by Dewey.
  • Nursery Schools

    Started/ pushed forward by Dewey's ideas. "Fostered the child's total development."
    Weren't for low-income families up through the 1960s.
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    Rudolf Steiner

    Theorized that childhood is important, and that a child's environment must be directed for the child's benefit.
    Believed a teacher's role is to guide a child's inherent desire to learn and self-teach.
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    Maria Montessori

    The first female physician in Italy, founded the Montessori Method, which states that education starts at birth.
    "Children teach themselves if only we will dedicate ourselves to the self-creating process of the child."
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    A. S. Neill

    A part of the "free school" or "natural school" movement.
    Argued the idea that children were inherently evil, and shared the belief that children are naturally curious and have the ability to self-teach.
  • Sputnik

    "Soviet satellite and the world's first successful exploration of space."
    Caused a push of STEM in education and a drive to catch up with other countries in terms of educated minds.
  • Head Start

    Originally directed at low-income families, providing services and resources (educational, nutritional, social, medical, dental, etc.) to their preschool children.
    In 1972, it shifted to a "part-day, full-year program."
    Per 2013, requires minimum one teacher per classroom to hold a Bachelor's degree.
  • HighScope

    Made to combat the effects poverty has on a child's development.
    Uses the "Plan-Do-Review" model, has students and teachers share control, and more.
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    Media and Technology

    Has exploded (since before 2000), and has invaded what seems like every corner of everyone's lives, including children's.
    Media has detrimental effects on overexposed children, and there are serious concerns from many that things need to change quickly.
  • No Child Left Behind

    Education reform that intended to level the field between all students. It requires schools to have annual, standardized tests.
  • Standards

    Common Core State Standards are published for math and language arts for all grades. This ensured all students were learning the same things.
  • Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP)

    The concept of using methods and ideas that match the level of the children being taught.